Time for the Trico HatchWritten by Cameron Larsen
Ahh, yes. Trico time, time of year accomplished fly fisherman throw down their rods in disgust. Take up golf clubs, repaint house, design ninth wonder of world. Anything but test their patience and skill against dreaded Tricos and super selective trout that feed on them. Called ‘White Winged Devils’ in gentlest of circles, these tiny micro hatches can infuriate most skilled of fly fishing angler. Huge lunker trout hunker down in feeding lanes slurping up every Trico spinner except pattern you are offering to them. And after several hundred tedious passes, after you have lightened your tippet, after you have changed your position after you have done everything but jump in water and grab fish with your bare hands, you give up in disgust, and wait for something larger and more tangible to come off water. A nice Salmonfly hatch would be ticket. But, alas there are ways to improve your catch rate during these prolific hatches.About Trico: The Tricos are prevalent in a majority of great trout fly fishing streams from Pennsylvania to west coast. They primarily hatch in morning, and primarily in summer. Although streams of Arizona and New Mexico can have hatches in February. The Trico is tiny, this adds to frustration of many fly fisher’s, it can be as small as size 26 hook, although they primarily are in 18-22 range. Besides their diminutive size, they can be recognized by their lack of hind wing. On many rivers Trico hatch is multigenerational lasting several months into late summer or early fall. So trout see a lot of them, and a few fish get caught, making them even more selective. By far easiest Trico fishing is actual spinner fall. After laying of eggs, females die in swarms and fall into river, and then males closely follow. Hatching usually takes place early in morning or late at night. With spinner falls shortly after daybreak to mid-morning. Flies: As we stated above, spinner falls are more important than actual hatch for fly fishing. Spinner falls happen in clusters and trout crowd into feeding lanes, and can open their mouths and inhale a multitude of flies. Here at The Big Y Fly Co. (http://www.bigyflyco.com) we carry Parachutes and Spinners, in both male (black) and female (cream) colors. The Parachute with their white posts are easier to see, and can be used for hatch and spinner fall. They also are more buoyant than hackle-less spinner.
| | Titanium 101.... There is a differenceWritten by Tom Erwin
Titanium 101… There is a differenceTitanium has taken world of golf by storm. Manufacturers of some of world’s top golf clubheads have chosen to use titanium as their chief ingredient in assembling space age, state-of-the-art components. But why is this? There are many materials as strong if not stronger than titanium. So why is titanium material of choice? Titanium is not only one of “hardest” metals known to man but unlike these other hard materials, titanium is extremely lightweight. Because of these weight characteristics, manufacturing advances have enabled clubhead designers to build drivers of ever increasing size while not being inhibited by added clubhead weight. Three different types of titanium are used in manufacturing of today’s clubheads: 9-6AL-4V, 15-3-3-3 and SP700. There are 3 characteristics that are used to gauge quality of each type of titanium. Tensile strength represents material’s resistance to breaking or cracking. The higher value more resistant clubhead is to cracking. Elongation is percentage each type of titanium will flex or spring upon impact. The higher percentage, more spring each metal will experience. HRC Hardness is fairly self-explanatory, exhibiting values that correspond to metals hardness. The higher this figure, less likely metal will dent or become deformed upon use. When evaluating types of titanium and figures used to do so, clearly noted is separation between 9-6AL-4V and 15-3-3-3 / SP700. A golfer should avoid purchase and use of 9-6AL-4V as minimal cost savings (typically $20 to $40) do not warrant inferior playing characteristics. As one can surmise, a clubhead made with 9-6AL-4V is much more likely to crack or dent through continued use. In addition, elongation percentage is not nearly as high as others mentioned therefore, a golfer would not experience potential gains in distance/yardage that he/she would if using either of other titanium’s.
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